in its investigation that led to the resignation of the c.i.a. director and another former c.i.a. director happened to be at the national press club today. >> as the former head of the c.i.a., please explain why general petraeus was forced to resign rather than a lesser punishment. [ laughter ] >> you got to be kidding me. [ laughter ] you got to be kidding me. you know, in this town, with that kind of e-mail, do you think he could have survived as director of the c.i.a.? i don't think so. >> whoa. thanks, everybody. that's it for this special report, fair, balanced and unafraid. >> shepard: this is the fox report. new tonight, what drove the mad man to open fire on a classroom full of innocent children? now and for the first time, word of what may be a motive for the massacre at sandy hook

elementary. police anding all sorts of evidence from the school and the shooter's home. tonight developments in their investigation. and what cops reportedly did not find here. this man took in young survivors from the shooting, comforted them, called their parents. >> one of them said our teacher is dead. we can't go back. >> shepard: this retired psychologist says his training never prepared him for anything like this. a veteran foreign correspondent free after gunmen took him hostage in syria. and now he's talking about his ordeal. >> the last five days were days that we would rather forget. >> shepard: tonight the kidnapped, the captivity and incredible escape during a fire fight. but first from fox this tuesday night, why? that's been the question. why did he do it?

why would anybody kill his mother and go on a rampage in an elementary school? tonight there is word of a possible motive in the newtown massacre. a man who says he knew the shooter's family tells fox news.com that adam lanza was upset because his mother was planning to commit him to a psychiatric facility. we can't confirm that, but a senior law enforcement official does back it up. saying investigators are looking at whether lanza was angry over plans for his future mental health treatment. police say lanza shot and killed his mother friday morning before driving to that elementary school. there they say he murdered 20 children and six adults and then killed himself. we have team fox coverage. molly line on how kids are going back to school. first to rick leventhal with the latest on the investigation. police searched lanza's home for clues. one thing they reportedly did not find is of great interest. >> right. according to the hartford current, they found no

prescription drugs in the home and no record that adam lanza was being treated for as bergers, autism or any mental illness. but investigators are said to be serving search warrants to obtain medical records for adam lanza. they're processing what's been described as a large amount of evidence, including phone and credit card records and computers recovered from the home that adam lived with his mother and where he shot and killed her on friday morning before his rampage. police are not confirming that a computer hard drive was smashed inside the home. they say they won't talk about any specific pieces of evidence. >> shepard: all right. to the story that got us here and that is this idea of a motive. it's my understanding from the reporting and from this source at foxnews.com that the reason they think this might be a motive is that he had heard that his mother loved that school where she was volunteering maybe more than she loved him. and that's why he would target her and then that school. >> the story says that the kids that were killed were all first

graders. the kids that his mother was spending the most time with when she was volunteering there, according to the report, he was very, very angry about that. and also very angry about the possibility that she might try to have him committed to a psychiatric institution. >> shepard: wow. more funerals today as a result of his actions. >> yeah. two funerals today and two more funerals today, all of them for six-year-old kids and the two funerals this morning and this afternoon were back to back at the saint rose of lima church. the first was for james mattioli, six-year-old boy whose family says he loved recess and math and as his casket was being carried out, mourners were arriving to remember jessica ricos, who said to have loved horse, one of 20 kids who passed away far too soon. >> shepard: how much love and help coming really from across the nation around the world, rick. >> yeah. some of it coming in different

ways. some people donated the coffee shops so mourners could walk in and get a free cup. others are donating to the united way. we saw dogs in towns with handlers who work for a ministry out of chicago. they brought their dogs to visit some of the schools and some of the makeshift memorials that have been popping up. >> it's like we find reassurance and comfort and dogs do that. >> the mourning is far from over. more funerals tomorrow, including one for the teacher, victoria soto, who is said to sacrifice sheriff to save some of the kids in her class. >> shepard: rick leventhal for us, thanks. two sandy hook elementary parents say they're ready for the kids to get back to school. some of us spoke with the mothers today and our team fox coverage continues with molly line in newtown this evening. >> i had a chance to speak with two mothers, both have teenagers

that went to newtown high school and went back to school today. the mothers said they believe it was a good choice. it was time for the children to get back to some sense of normalcy and this new normal and both have children that attend sandy hook elementary school. they believe that new school in monroe will be a positive step for the kids to move them forward as they -- and get them back together at a place where they can move forward with their education. the third grader survived the massacre and she says the parents will have a chance to look at that new school by the end of the week and karen dryer's son was kept home friday. he did not suffer the terror that his friends did on that day. but he has yet to learn that two of his friends passed away. the kindergarteners were gathered up for a craft making, a little holiday fun, and a chance to just enjoy each other's company. take a listen. >> they're babies and the teachers are so badly hurt as we

are. so we just know it will be cathartic for everybody to get them together. >> i do not have any particular concern with safety for the future. and i think they should go back to be with their friends and their classroom back to normal and to heal together and communicate to each other. >> that school in monroe is expected to be finished and ready for occupancy as soon as january. shep? >> shepard: molly line, a related story now and that of an 11-year-old boy who said he wanted to protect his school in utah from a connecticut-style incident. so the student brought a gun with him to class. that's according to the reporting of school district officials who say that kid is now in police custody. happened yesterday as it turns out, just outside salt lake city. and according to school officials, other students told police that this sixth grader actually pointed the weapon at them during recess and made

threats. one father says the school should have gone on lockdown. >> 3:00 o'clock, school gets out at 3:45. there was no lockdown, no one was called, nothing was done. then we had to hear from our kids. >> shepard: the school spokesman says school staff found an unloaded gun and ammunition in the child's backpack. the boy is in juvenile detention. he also faces what they're calling a lengthy suspension from school. in other news, the white house says president obama would actively support a bill to renew the assault weapons ban that expired eight years ago. some republicans claim that ban didn't work the first time and only punishes law abiding gun owners. senator diane feinstein says she'll introduce an updated version of the ban when the new congress gets to work next month. the national rifle association late today released its first statement since the massacre. james rosen live in washington with that. james? >> good evening. the nra broke its silence a few hours after fox news reported exclusively that the gun

advocacy group was soon going to begin, quote, pushing back against the gun control lobby which has been quite vocal since newtown. the nra statement promised to hold a major news conference this friday. the national rifle association of america, the statement said, is made up of 4 million moms and dads, sons and daughters and we were shocked, saddened and heart broken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in newtown. the nra is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again. around senator feinstein, the democrat who proposes to ban more than 100 kinds of firearms, the nra is preparing to draw red lines, a key provision in the feinstein bill would limit the number of rounds that could be loaded into semiautomatic weapons. and industry sources say that would prove very expensive to gun manufacturers. senator manchin, the gun friendly democrat from virginia relie detectorred last month spoke with president obama today and afterward urged his nra friends not to, quote, vilify those who talked to the other

side. at the same time, democratic senator claire mccaskill of missouri, one of the top ten states for gun ownership background checks struck a different posture. >> everyone walks around, too many, worried about their nra score. they scoreed, nomination. they scored whether or not the attorney general was held in contempt. i have two words for the nra. score this. >> gun advocates argue the ban that feinstein authored and which was the law from 1994 to 2004 failed to prevent the columbine massacre, carried out in part with assault weapons in 1999. shep. >> shepard: james rosen in washington, a lot of americans have apparently decided to go gun shopping before any new restrictions may or may not take affect. colorado officials say the state set a new record for background checks over the weekend. a gun store owner in san diego says saturday was his biggest day in 20 years. officials reported long lines at a gun show in cincinnati that

same day. some dealers say lots of shoppers are buying the ar 15 rifle, the model police say adam lanza used on his murderous rampage. who should we shoot first? that was the question for nbc news correspondent richard engle after he and colleagues got kidnapped in syria. coming up, the executions that happened right in front of them and what the kidnappers tried to make them do on a long hooded five-day ordeal. tonight they're safe, telling of an incredible escape during a five fight and we'll have it all. it was the scandal that brought down the head of the c.i.a., one general david petraeus. now the feds say they will not charge the mistress in the middle of it all. the reason for that coming up from the journalists of fox news on this tuesday fox report why do toys for tots and hasbro

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♪ thmeet the 5-passenger ford c-max hybrid. when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. >> shepard: richard engle is free. the well nope television news correspondent and his team say gunmen threatened them with

death and forced them to endure mock executions. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent richard engle is free and out of syria. he was covering the country's civil war. last week kidnappers are said to have grabbed his crew and him. richard engle says the gunmen blind tolded them, tied them up and told them they were going to die. >> the last five days are days that we would rather forget and if you can understand, we just came out now. we haven't even left yet. we're very tired. so we'll probably be talking more in the coming days. >> shepard: they say they were able to escape only when their kidnappers got into a fire fight with rebel forces. the fox report chief correspondent jonathan hunt is with us in studio. the story of this ordeal is really incredible. >> it's extraordinary. richard engle says it began when he and his colleagues were in the company of some of the rebel opposition. they say that suddenly around 15

masked and heavily armed men appeared as if from nowhere. there was a brief fire fight and richard engle and his colleagues were then blindfolded and started being moved from safe house to safe house. it was on arrival at that first safe house that their nightmare really began. listen. >> they kept us blindfolded, bound. we weren't physically beaten or tortured. a lot of psychological torture. threats of being killed. they made us choose which one of us would be shot first and when we refused, there were mock shootings. >> mock shootings. in other words, they were blindfold. they were told someone was going to be killed and then they simply heard a rifle shot. they are five days, richard engle says they wish to forget. that's going to be very hard to do. >> shepard: free and safe, but there is still one american correspondent who is still in captivity and has been for monthses. >> richard engle is familiar because of his work with nbc

news. but there is a print journalist who has not been heard from since august 13. his name is austin ties. a former marine, went to syria to report for the mckarachi news service. had an article published in the "washington post." his parents are desperate for news from him. they simply do not know who is holding him, although the suspicion is that he is being held by pro-government militia. worth remembering as well that there are syrian civilians dying every day during all of this. >> shepard: 40,000 according to activists. thank you. justice department announced it will not, will not be filing cyber stalking charges against the mistress of the disgraced ex-c.i.a. chief, david petraeus. he resigned last month after he admitted that he did have an extramarital affair. the general had been having that affair with his biographer, paula broadwell. but it came to light only after

another woman contacted the f.b.i., claiming somebody was harassing her on-line, telling her to stay away from general petraeus. the f.b.i. then traced the e-mails to paula broadwell, who is also married. prosecutors announced broadwell's actions did not qualify as cyber stalking and as a result, they were not illegal. the brave men and women of law enforcement put their lives on the line every single day to keep us safe. have you ever wondered how they train to respond to life and death situations? >> important thing in performing a pit maneuver is location. no embankments, no bridges, no congestion. >> shepard: coming up, you'll get a front row seat and a one of a kind training center in georgia. plus, an independent review of factors that led to the attd thr in libya is due out tomorrow. and it could indicate what security changes we may see in the future. details of that in a live report coming right up

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>> shepard: federal agents spend a lot of time preparing to respond to attacks like the one we saw last weekend in newtown. but active shooters are just one of many scenarios for which they train under realistic conditions at a one of a kind facility in brunswick, georgia. steve harrigan is there tonight. steve? >> she basically built a miniature world here from which they can recreate a range of terrorist attacks. in brunswick, georgia, simulated subway cars are attacked with simulated nerve gas. >> y'all picked a bad day. >> active shooters enter bars and knife wielding assassins charge vips.

attacks from improvised explosive devices may be common in iraq and afghanistan. but at the federal law enforcement training center, they are already planning on how to defeat them on u.s. soil. >> one of the criticisms in the 9-11 report was that law enforcement failed to imagine what the threat might be. so now we do everything we can to work with our partners to imagine what type of threat would he might face in the homeland. >> that's what we want to see, get out of dodge. >> 60,000 federal agents a year from 90 different agencies come to train here on a 1600-acre campus. the multiple drills have a single constant. put federal responders under real life pressure. >> you can't simulate behavior. you have to use people to simulate behavior. >> the classrooms here keep getting bigger. just down the street, they're building an entire mock gated community where they'll carry out simulated terrorist attacks and then defeat them.

shep. >> shepard: steve harrigan live. the japanese auto maker toyota, has agreed to pay a record fine to the united states government for being too slow to report safety defects. the fine is $17.4 million. it's the largest the law allows. this stems from a recall earlier this year of lexus suv. another case of floor mats potentially trapping the gas pedal. investigators say toyota failed to report the problems within the required five days of discovering them. the company agree to go pay the fine without admitting any wrongdoing. this is the fourth such fine against toyota in the last two years. the house majority leader has just signaled that republicans plan to vote on thursday to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. but what's in this new gop plan? we'll get to that. plus a mud slide smash noose a train carrying chemicals outside a major american city. the rest of the video and word

of some arrests in the great maple syrup heist of 2012. will the charges stick? as we approach the bottom of the hour and the top of the news as fox report's live tonight. my name is hunter cannon.

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military families face, we understan at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. >> shepard: now the mud slide i mentioned. smashed down an embankment and knocked a intradition off the tracks. it happened yesterday north of seattle. officials say the debris slipped off a 100-foot high slope just

as the freight train rolled through the area. look at that. it derailed seven cars. some of them reportedly carrying chemicals used in cleaning supplies and fertilizers. haz-mat crews said there was no danger. a spokesman says rocks and trees covered a different section of nearby tracks after a separate mud slide just hours after this one. at least four people are dead and seven more hurt after a pair of apartment buildings collapsed. that tops our news around the world in 80 seconds. italy. emergency officials say structural problems brought down the town houses overnight in sicily. crews rescued several people from the rubble, including a young girl. she's reportedly okay. firefighters ordered residents to evacuate another building nearby. fiji. a powerful cyclone tore through the pacific island nation. heavy winds ripped roofs off homes and churches. torrential rains flooded roads.

thousands of people evacuated. no word of anybody killed. that same storm last week killed several people in samoa. ecuador. a volcano erupting south of quito. it shot lava a half mile into the air. authorities put locals on alert. it erupted several times since experts classified it as active some 13 years ago. belgium. christmas tree made entirely of cups and plates on display in the city square east of the capitol city of brussels. the town's mayor asked folks to donate any extra tableware for the creation. >> it's a christmas tree that symbolizes being together around the christmas table. >> shepard: locals parted with more than 3,000 items for the tree. and that's a wrap on this fox trip around the world in 80 seconds.

>> shepard: i'm shepard smith. this is the fox report. it's the bottom of the hour. time for the top of the news. john boehner is pushing what he's now calling plan b. plan b to keep us from plunging off the fiscal cliff. speaker boehner is offering to let tax cuts he can fire for people who make more than $1 million or actually for all income above $1 million. president obama has been demanding rate hikes on incomes above 250,000. now he's upped that to 400 grand. why the white house says plan b makes no sense. of course, if they don't agree on something, which most think they will, tax cuts will expire for everybody two weeks from today. it's the top story on the bottom of the hour and ed henry is on it live from the white house. time is running out. that's clear. plan b? >> that's right, shep. so bottom line is john boehner says he's borrowing this idea from democrats. nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, various democrats over the last

couple of years have said the threshold should be raising taxes on incomes of a million dollars or more per year. so john boehner is saying let's go back to that. he thinks that would be the fair way to do it. and he believes this is the only way out right now. take a listen. >> our plan b would protect american taxpayers who make a million dollars or less and have all of their current rates extended. >> democrats like pelosi and schumer say what's changed, though, is that there was an election and the president campaigned on the idea that tax rates are going up for people making at least $250,000 per year or more. republicans have to accept that and they're willing to meet somewhere in the middle. but it's not going to be a million dollars. >> shepard: are democrats laughing or somewhere in the middle? >> they're laughing it offment jay carney was basically saying this is dead on arrival. while the senate majority leader harry reid said, look, he almost feels like this is a bad tv episode where the goal post

keeps getting moved. take a listen. >> every time we got down to doing something with a long-term financial security of this country, they take that football and it's a charlie brown etch sewed. they jerk the ball away. >> just in the last few moments, the house majority leader eric cantor, has said that he believes the republican leadership has the votes to get the so-called plan b through the house when they vote on it thursday. the problem, though, is that senator reid says it would never get through the senate. so we're basically back to square one. forget about plan b. now we may have to go to c or d or e, one of those. >> shepard: all right. ed henry, thanks. there is apparently optimism. in fact, there is that a budget deal could be near and it showed on wall street. in fact, for every two stocks that fell, nearly three finished in the green. the dow jumped by the end of the session 116 points. nasdaq up 44. the s & p 500 climbed some 16 to

close at a two-month high. today marks one year since the last u.s. combat troops left iraq. america still has a huge presence in baghdad. the u.s. embassy there is as large as vatican city with almost 200 american troops providing embassy security and handling sales of u.s. arms to the iraqis. it may be a preview of the future of afghanistan in which the united states is pushing ahead with plans to withdraw troops by 2014. the defense secretary leon panetta says our longest war is at a strategic turning point with a new strategy which has reversed five-year trends of growing violence. he says military commanders there are now expressing optimism. >> all of them believe that we have fundamentally turned the tide in that effort after years in which we lacked the right strategy and the necessary resources to try to achieve the mission we were embarked on. >> shepard: the u.s. still has about 65,000 troops in

afghanistan. secretary panetta is talking about the attack object the u.s. outpost in benghazi just hours after more classified hearings on capitol hill. that attack killed the u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens and three other americans. now the state department is sending lawmakers a report on its benghazi information and catherine herridge has that. >> sources tell fox news the classified report arrived on capitol hill late today in advance of tomorrow's closed classified hearings for two congressional committees. whale aides to secretary clinton says she's drafting a letter in response to the findings. at the briefing today, the state department tried to explain why clinton is not testifying this week about you benghazi terrorist attack which killed those four americans, including her ambassador. department officials field more questions on whether the secretary who is well-known and respected for her work ethic, was dodging uncomfortable testimony. >> completely untrue. we've been very clear from the beginning that she had a stomach virus, ugly stomach virus.

she got very dehydrated. she fainted, was later discovered she had sustained a concussion. doctors orders, she is working at home this week. >> not having seen the final report which also investigates the military response to benghazi, defense secretary panetta said it was clearly a terrorist assault. >> i think that there is no question that extremists were involved in those attacks and i think that we were able to try to respond as best we could at the time. we have learned a lot and we will continue to learn a lot from that incident. >> while u.s. officials have said there are intercepts suggesting the benghazi violence was inspired by protests over the anti-islam film, it's said there was no reference to the film leading up to the attack in benghazi. >> shepard: calls for another uprise not guilty egypt and now an investigation surrounding its controversial new constitution.

a familiar scene inairo. demonstrators once again demanding that egypt's president, mohammed morsi, resign after he recently tried to give himself near absolute power. many protesters today reportedly called him a coward and chanted, revolution, revolution. over the weekend, the new constitution passed, a preliminary vote with 57% of the ballots. that's apparently less than the president had expected. but egypt's justice ministry has ordered a probe into allegations of widespread irregularities during saturday's vote. leeland vittert now. can we expect more protests this week? >> absolutely, shep. both muslim brotherhood and the liberals called for protests. liberals were out in the streets today protesting. they say effectively the brotherhood has stolen this revolution. we no longer hear about the democratic ideals from tahrir square. now there is a referendum on a constitution which is hard line, pro-islamic. restricts women's rights and the people are speaking. they have elected morsi of the

muslim brotherhood. so far this constitution is leading 57-43. on saturday the second round of voting that includes the other half of egypt which conceivably is more loyal to the muslim brotherhood, that margin could get wider. >> shepard: the public prosecutor for egypt also quit. who is that and what does that mean? >> essentially the u.s. equivalent of the attorney general. it shows just how fragile egypt is and how divided of a country this is. he was accused of using his power to keep anti-morsi protesters in power. effectively they said he was a sham for the muslim brotherhood. the muslim brotherhood is supporting him. the liberal attention are saying he's doing terrible things and has done more and more terrible things as relates to clashes that you're seeing right now. the big question going forward is whether this issue of the public prosecutor or any of the other issues, including the passing of this constitution, would be enough to really bring people out in the street and more importantly, keep them in the street for something like what we saw over the past couple

of years of the egyptian revolution. >> shepard: leeland vittert. instagram has reported that it could sell your photos without telling you and without paying you. now there is damage control. it's now inn and it's next. plus the mayor of one town says he found a way to stop people from stealing pine trees from parks for christmas. my. wait 'til you see what makes you not want this. or smell it at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis sympto. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function

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>> shepard: so that picture you took of your baby, it could end up in an advertisement for gerber mashed peas. that photo of aunt kathy in a promo of aarp and you couldn't make a cent. that was the concern after they announced a change in its termination of service. the new terms stated that a business or other entity may pay

us to display your user name likeness or photo without any compensation from you. of course, there was a backlash. late today, the company backed down. trace gallagher in our l.a. news room. what's the company doing now and why? >> well, as you said, they're backing off a little, but mostly saying that we just misunderstood the whole thing, saying that they're listening to their users and the reason their users are angry and confused is that legal documents can often be misinterpreted, saying, and i'm quoting here, it was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation. well, maybe we got that impression because as you showed earlier, their new privacy policy says we can sell your photos without any compensation. our legal expert, by the way, was not at all confused by their legal document. listen. >> i think what people in my

business hope is that instagram really fights this all the way and tries to use photographs of all sorts of people all over the country and sell them for advertising because it could be full employment for lawyers. >> clearly instagram is not fighting. now saying that they have no ownership at all over your photos. shep? >> shepard: who can imagine they would want one of our photos. but they clearly understand that they depend on all of their users. >> yeah. when we first heard about this, we went out and got some reaction and nobody that we talked to was happy. here is a sample. >> i really my privacy, that, to me, is appalling. i don't want my face all of a sudden showing up and people calling me. like, hey, i saw you and i'm like what are you talking about? lame. >> then we went out and talked to a social media expert who says that social media companies have a very short shelf life and that their number one obligation is to keep their customers

happy. listen. >> really the long-term damage to reputation from doing something that users feel is sneaky and not in their best interest can really be profound. >> instagram's new policy, by the way, goes into effect the middle of next month. >> shepard: trace gallagher in los angeles. there has been a major breakthrough today in the case of the missing maple syrup. it is a big deal for your breakfast. you see, last august thieves stole nearly a million gallons of maple syrup, worth about $18 million from a warehouse in quebec. it's not clear how anybody moved all that product, but today police did arrest three people in connection with the case. earlier this year, folks at the warehouse discovered the missing syrup during a routine inventory check. authorities say quebec produced 80% of all the world's maple syrup and that the heist put a real dent in the global supply. in southern new jersey,

folks are apparently cutting down evergreen trees from a public park, or they were. it's illegal and the mayor of the town of port republic in jersey says things have gotten so bad around the holidays that the only logical solution was to make the trees smell like rotten eggs and fish. >> they actually use in fertilizer. he said mix that with this thing, do it -- put two coats on it and when you get within five foot of that tree, you're not going to want to take it into your living room. >> shepard: the mayor says since he began spraying the tree with that mixture, not one single tree has gone missing. only in jersey. some lottery winners in iowa were reportedly donate $3 million to build a football stadium for their local high school am but there is a catch the the school must paint the visiting team's locker room pink. it happened in a suburb of des moines. the family there won a $202 million jackpot from the powerball last september. their son a student at the school and they want the stadium

ready for his senior football season. why not? the winners say they were half joking about the pink locker room, but school administrators say no problem. coming up, one city's plan to put more cops on the street does not involve hiring any more cops. that's not sitting well with the cops union. civilian cops in the middle of a heated debate and it's next this holiday, share everything. share "not even close." s share "you owe me..." share "just right." the share everything plan. shareable data across 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. hurry in for a droid razr m by motorola for $49.99.

>> shepard: civilians taking police work from the police. and it's making union workers very unhappy. the denver police chief says the department will hire about 45 regular folks for duties that officers handle right now. he says the goal is to put those cops back on patrol and save the city some 600,000 bucks.

but the president of the police union there argues many of the jobs require law enforcement experience. he says it helps knowing how people commit crimes and that folks simply can't learn that from a book. our denver based correspondent there. what kind of jobs are we talking about? not out doing crime work, are they? >> right. these are positions that don't require a badge and a gun, according to police chief robert white here in denver. jobs that are more clerical, fingerprint technicians, but also include crime scene analysts. evidence collectors and lab technicians, which prompted us to ask if they're concerned they might miss something. >> no. we're going to make sure that they are highly qualified. either we're going to hire them at a level that we're comfortable with or we will hire those that we think have the ability to be trained at the level that we think it should be done. >> and the chief says he has seen success with this program in other places he's worked.

>> shepard: the police union is not sure about this at all. >> huh-uh, no. especially when it comes to jobs that involve crime scene analysis. the union argues that that takes law enforcement experience. a lot of this comes down to money and tightening budgets all over the country. denver joins a growing number of cities turning to civilians to help expand their work force. the chief says when officers aren't tied up with clerical work, they can respond to dangerous crimes quicker. shep. >> shepard: live in denver, thanks a lot. more than 20 fraternity members face criminal charges in connection with an alcohol-fueled hazing ritual because police say one freshman pledge turned up dead the day after it happened. according to the cops, this 19-year-old took part in the hazing ehave not last month at northern illinois university fraternity chapter. the teen went from room to room answering questions. in exchange for cups of vodka or other liquor. the next morning he was dead.

police say his blood alcohol content was five times the legal limit for driving. lawyers for the student's relatives responding to the charges. >> they're relieved that the charges were brought. he wanted to be liked. he wanted to be accepted. the terms that the fraternity placed was that he had to go through this. >> shepard: the international vice president says he has suspended the niu chapter and is investigating. as friday's unthinkable horror unfolded in newtown, a local man found students who just escaped the school waiting in front of his house. next, what he says he learned once he took those children inside his home and what he says they told him about what they had been through and what he now calls one of the most joyful moments of his life meet the 5-passenger ford c-max hybrid.

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on the day of gun shots blasted through sandy hook elementary and ruined so many lives, members of the newtown community stepped up to help.

some comforted survivors. they held parents who were still in shock. and spoke in soft voices to children who couldn't begin to understand what had just happened. why their friends were dead. today we heard from a man who lives near that school. he says shortly after the gun fire, he found six young students jus sitting outside his house. four girls, two boys, they had escape asked the shooter and the retired psychologist says he brought those children and a school bus driver into his home. >> i brought down my grandson's stuffed animals and they played with them. they didn't say very much. i brought them some juice and then they seemed to be calmer and we went to a different room and then it all started unfolding and it started this way. this boy said, we can't go back. we can't go back to the school. we can't go back. we don't have a teacher.

we can't go back. they kept repeating that. i could not fathom what they were saying. i could not take it in what they were saying. and then one of them said, our teacher is dead. we can't go back. mrs. soto is dead. >> mrs. soto is vicky soto, 27 years old. taught first grade at sandy hook. the cops say she put herself between the children and the gunman, perhaps saved some of their lives and died doing it. the retired psychologist who took the survivors from her class says he looked after the children until their parents could come get them and he says watching those reunions was one of the most joyful times of his life. updating some of our other top stories, michigan's republican governor rick snyder today vetoed a bill that would have allowed concealed weapons in schools, daycares, churches and other venues. house speaker john boehner pushing what he calls plan b to

avoid going over the fiscal cliff. he's offering a to let tax cuts expire for people with their income above a million dollars. the president calling for hikes above 400 grand. the majority leader eric cantor says he expects a vote on plan b on thursday and he expects to have enough votes to pass. but it will never get through the senate. the veteran nbc news journalist richard engle and his crew escaped from militia men in syria. they abducted them, carried out mocks executions ask psychologically tortured them for five long days. on this day in 1892, the sugar plumb fairy first danced to life when the nutcracker ballet premiered in russia. it's about a girl who dreams of a nutcracker prince and enchanced land. the first reviews were mixed. audiences weren't pleased with the dancing but